Building with History

de Paul Goldberger, Mark Fiennes, Richard Bryant

This book offers a critique of Foster + Partners' work in the context of historic structures or sensitive historical locations. Foster + Partners' work is rooted in a belief that there is no conflict between a passion for structures from the past and anticipation of the architecture of the future: old and new can coexist with integrity and without apology. Per Norman Foster, "Each age produces its own vocabulary. . . . In buildings that have evolved over time the original layers of history can often be understood more readily when seen alongside the new." Critic Paul Goldberger explores the practice's approach to "building with history," culminating with the remodeling of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Complementing the study is a pictorial record of projects that illustrate different strands of Foster + Partners' work in this field, photographed by the distinguished Richard Bryant and the late Mark Fiennes.